Solid Rock Living

By Bobby Blakey on October 6, 2019

Philippians 4:1-3

AUDIO

Solid Rock Living

By Bobby Blakey on October 6, 2019

Philippians 4:1-3

This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:02] "The wise man builds his house upon the rock," this is what I was taught when I was going to children's church, when my parents dropped me off at Sunday school and they taught me a whole song.

[00:00:16] And it had motions that the wise man builds his house upon the rock. Anybody know this one? Anybody with me on this? And then this is what they taught me at church. The foolish man builds his house upon sand.

[00:00:31] Right. And the rains came. Interm ballooned. You know that far right. The rains came down the. Thank you. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you. Now you could see why I don't sing here at the church into a microphone. Right.

[00:00:47] And then the part that it got to at the end was the foolish man builds his house on the sand in the house on the sand went splat.

[00:00:56] And I love that park is I'd just like, smack the kid next to me like a splash man. That's what I got taught at church. All right. Yes. Black man. Yeah.

[00:01:04] Right now, I grew up and I kept thinking that, OK, yeah. If you're wise, if you're the wise man, you build your house on the rock. The rock is Jesus. We even sang a song earlier here today, the solid rock on Kreiss, the solid rock. I stand all other grounded, sinking sand.

[00:01:21] And so I thought that if you believed in Jesus, you were standing on the solid rock. But then actually one day I read what Jesus actually says and he says something different than that. Open your Bible. And in turn with me to Matthew, chapter seven versus twenty four to twenty seven here at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, the most famous teaching of Jesus there on the hill by the Sea of Galilee. Thousands of people have gathered around and he's gone through Matthew five, Matthew six, Matthew seven, starting with the Beatitudes and interpreting the law for them, preaching through seek his kingdom first, his righteousness, and we get to the end of his sermon. He ends with the analogy that I got taught as a kid in church. The wise man build in his house and the foolish man build in his house. But it's a little bit different than how I grew up thinking about it. Let's pay attention to it here.

[00:02:19] Matthew 724 says everyone then who hears these words of mine and does.

[00:02:27] Then we'll be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the flood floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house. But it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.

[00:02:42] And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house.

[00:02:57] NFL and great was the fall of it.

[00:03:03] Now, from everything I've been taught in preaching classes by other pastors, that's a terrible way to end a sermon like somebody needs to teach Jesus how to preach basically here. Right?

[00:03:14] Like, you don't just, like, drop the mike and walk off after talking about how foolish people are in their house going splat. Like, that's an interesting way to end the sermon. OK. So let's think this through. Not just assume that we already know it.

[00:03:30] There's a wise man and he's on a solid foundation and a foolish man in Jesus wants to leave you with the impression that this foolish man, when his house falls, it is going to be ruin it great is going to be the fall of it. And what's the difference? He doesn't say the difference is who believes in him. He doesn't say the difference is who hears him. He says the difference is the ones who hears his words and they do them. Look back of his 24. Make sure you see that everyone then who hears these words of mine and does that. That's the wise man building on the rock. When they hear what Jesus is saying, they do what the foolish man. He also hears they're both they're listening to the sermon.

[00:04:14] They're both here at church on Sunday morning.

[00:04:16] Everybody in this analogy here is hearing the same message from Jesus, but only the wise people are doing what Jesus says to do and only the people who do what Jesus says to do. Stand firm on the rock.

[00:04:31] People who just hear Jesus, they're going to go splat. They're going to have a great fall.

[00:04:39] And so with this idea that maybe you've heard and maybe you think it or maybe it's affected on some level the way that you think that, hey, I'm saved. And so I'm fine and I'm good.

[00:04:51] And I'm going to have it. And it's OK whatever happens right now. It's OK. It's no big deal. I can kick it into cruise control and all be OK because all be with Jesus forever and heaven. Yeah.

[00:05:02] That's not what Jesus is saying here. He's saying if you're saved, he's got something that he wants you to do.

[00:05:10] And if you're really going to build your house on the rock of Jesus Christ, you're going to hear what he says and you're going to go and do it. Saved people saved completely by the work that Jesus has done. We are created in Christ Jesus for good works. There are things that he expects us to do, and those who do those things are the ones standing on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. Return with me to our text of Philippians Chapter four versus one to three, because we're at the part of the letter now where Paul is going to leave the Philippine church with some things that he wants them to do, some practical like, hey, here's what you need to go now and do. And we want to make sure that when we hear these words today that we leave here ready to go and do them so that we can really be solid rock living, standing on that firm foundation. And so out of respect for God's word, Amen ask if we could all stand up. As I read our texts for this morning, Philippians for one to three, and I'm going to ask you strongly encourage you to pay close attention to what is being said here. Not as if you just know what is being said, but so you're ready to go and do what is being said. Philippians Chapter four starting in verse one.

[00:06:31] Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for my joy and crown, stand firm. Thus in the Lord, my beloved, I entreat you Odia and I entreat sinta key to agree in the Lord. Yes. I ask you also true companion help these women who have labored side by side with me in the Gospel together with Klemet and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the Book of Life. That's the reading of God's word. Please go ahead and grab your seat. And the first thing that we've got to see here is as we're coming to the close, right where starting in chapter three, verse one, Paul said, Finally, my brothers rejoice. Which is kind of the theme of the letter that we've been studying now since the beginning of summertime. We've been going through Philippians together. We've seen the theme of joy, how they shared salvation, how they were Team Jesus for the gospel. And then in Chapter three, he went through his testimony how he used to think his own religious works could get him righteous. But then he considered them loss for the gain of being righteous by faith in Jesus. And he talked about how knowing Jesus is better than everything else in this world. And he talked about pressing on to be like Jesus and how he's waiting for Jesus to come from heaven. And now he says, therefore, chapter four. Verse one. Therefore, my brothers. And look how he expresses here how much he loves these people. We got to take note of that, that Paul is writing these people from prison because they've just sent him a gift of money to minister to his needs there. And he's writing to tell them thank you. And it's to give them truth from God. And he says, my brothers and sisters, he's referring to them as his family, us. No. One way. He refers to other Christian people as brothers. He says, whom I love and longed for. I love you. I wish I was with you.

[00:08:39] I want to see you. I'm tired of being long distance. I want to be there with you. My joy and crown, he says.

[00:08:49] He says, we're thinking of you guys how I came there, I preach the gospel. You guys got saved Jesus built up his church in Philipot. It brings me so much joy thinking about your salvation when I get to heaven, when I get my reward. You know what the crown I'm gonna be wearing is? It's all of you who've gotten saved. Like your salvation means so much to me. Paul saying. So he's laying it on, you can tell he's coming to the end and he's just pouring out. I love you guys. I long for you guys. You are my source of joy. You are my crown, my reward.

[00:09:23] You are what matters in eternity. And then he says, stand firm.

[00:09:28] Thus in the Lord, my beloved. Again, he talks about how much he loves the.

[00:09:34] Now, if you really love people and you've led these people to Jesus and you've seen these people get saved, there's no desire that you're going to want more than for those people to not fall away, put to stand firm in their faith.

[00:09:48] Can I get a man from anybody on that? Like, if you really care about people like your kids or other people, you really love a church as a Christian person, your greatest desire for them is their salvation and that they would stand firm in their faith.

[00:10:05] So this is what we're being told to do. This is it right here. It's a command, as he says it to them to stand firm. And it's Paul says this, many different places, other riders here riding to churches, these kinds of letters. They say it like there's an expectation Christians are not in cruise control. It's not like you're saved. And then we're all fine.

[00:10:28] No, we're holding ground. We're standing firm. We're not moving from our position on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. We're not compromising with temptation and going back to sin. We're not getting knocked over by the trials and the storms of this life, the persecutions that come against us. No, we're saying no to all of those things. And we're standing firm. The world is trying to toss us to and fro on these waves like little kids. And we're being told, hey, it's not just going to automatically happen. The world's going to try to knock your house down. They're going to try to beat you down. And you've got to hold your ground on the solid rock and stand firm.

[00:11:13] Now, this isn't something you're thinking about. If you're not if you're not thinking there's something you've got to do based on what Jesus has done for you. And we got to change that thinking here today. Stand firm. That's something you should regularly be praying about regularly. Be thinking about that today. The main thing I need to do is not give up any ground. I need to stand firm in the Lord.

[00:11:37] No, go back to chapter one. First twenty seven and you'll see he's already told them to do this earlier in the letter. So this is the second time he's saying this. In fact, chapter one, verse 27 is kind of a great theme verse for the Book of Philippians. We know the theme of joy goes throughout the letter, but this really summarizes, it seems like, what he's hoping they're going to do. The prayers that he asked for this church, he says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.

[00:12:10] See, there's this idea that that Paul writes about that our life needs to match the gospel. It's not like you just got saved and now you can live however you want. No, like live worthy of the gospel.

[00:12:22] Jesus gave his all for you. Give your all for Jesus.

[00:12:26] That's that's the basic idea. Like Jesus died for you.

[00:12:30] He on the cross carry your cross and follow Jesus live a life that matches the gospel. And then he says this. So that whether I come and see you, which we know he wants to do because he loves him so much or am absent because he's in prison, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.

[00:12:56] If I get to come and see you or if I'm still over here and I just hear about you, the thing I want to know about you guys is that you're standing firm, that you're right there where I left. You saved by the gospel of grace in the face of Jesus Christ. Don't move from that position. Hold that ground. Stand firm and do it all together. We're all standing on the same rock. It's not like we're all stand in our own rock of Jesus. No, there's one rock of Jesus and we're all building our houses on it together. So all of us come together and stand firm.

[00:13:31] Now, when you love people at church and you're preaching the gospel and you're given your life for them, there is nothing more heartbreaking than watching somebody that you know and love fall away from the faith in Jesus Christ.

[00:13:43] And Paul, he doesn't want that.

[00:13:45] That's why he's laying it on. In fact, Paul says this If you want to write down a cross reference about standing firm, First Thessalonians three eight if you're taking notes. He says now we really live. If you are standing fast in the law like you, standing firm in your faith is real live. And for me, like, that's my joy. That's my reward. Like when I see that you're standing for the thought of you faltering and giving in to sin or falling away from a real faith in Jesus, going back to your own life, maybe you're getting tempted by something evil that you want to go back to. Or maybe it's just so hard. The world is so against us as Christians and the persecutions and the trials come that test your faith. And it's just so hard that you just want to give up the ground and retreat. And he's like, no, no, no. The thing that I really live. What I'm really thriving on. The thing that keeps me going is you standing firm. This is what he wants for these people. And this is the expectation that all of us who have believed in Jesus Christ will stand firm. Go back to chapter four verse once it says stand firm. Thus in the Lord.

[00:14:55] So we're talking about it like something you and I need to go and do, something that should be on our radar, that we should be praying about, that we should be thinking about that today. I don't want to compromise in temptation. I don't want to take steps back because of the tribulations of this life. I want to hold my ground in Jesus Christ today. Now, when we say, hey, everybody, let's go stand firm. We're going to get different reactions from different kinds of people here. Some people I say, hey, I need you to hold your ground. I need you to stand firm. They're like, yes, that's me. I'm strong. Let's do it right. We've got some strong willed people here at our church. Right. Very strong minded. Some of you know who you are. I'm talking about you right now. You're not I mean, you're not afraid. Bring on the world. You've been standing for a while. You'll keep standing. Mike? Yeah. This sounds like my kind of a sermon. Let's get tough around here. Right. I mean, there's some people like that. And while I say that other people here are like, that's not me. I feel weak. Right. I don't want to stand firm.

[00:15:52] I don't want the world coming at me with rain and floods and wind trying to beat me down. I'm not up for any of that. Is there some other thing we can do? Because that doesn't. So we have these natural reactions. We hear about standing firm and some of us think we're strong and others of us, we might think, hey, I'm really weak. Look, it's not about you. That's not the point if you're thinking that way. That's not what we're saying. It doesn't say stand firm based on the kind of person you are. It says stand firm in who? It's not based on you. It's something you're responsible to do, it is a to do item. But the whole reason that you can stand firm is because the strength to keep standing is not coming from you, whether you feel strong.

[00:16:34] And you rely on yourself or whether you feel weak and you know you can't do it. The strength doesn't come from you. It comes from the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:16:42] He is the solid rock. We're standing on. So, yes, you are responsible to stand firm. But you're standing firm, not by your own self. You're standing firm in the law.

[00:16:55] And so what exactly does the scripture say that we're standing firm on? Turn with me to First Corinthians 15. Everybody, just a few pages over to the left. And there's so many passages we could go to about this idea of standing. Don't stop standing as a Christian. We'll look at First Corinthians fifteen, verse one, page 961. And if you know about the Corinthian church, when Paul wrote them a letter, it was in all joy and let the gospel ring out like it's been with the Philippians. No, there were so many issues with the Corinthians. This church was so divided from one another and they were not united in the way they treated one another.

[00:17:39] And so he addresses issue after issue. And then finally, at the end of the letter, he gets to chapter fifteen. And now it's like finally he gets back to what he really wants to talk about. And he says, First Corinthians 15, verse one. Now, I would remind you, brothers of the gospel I preached to you, which you received in which you what does he say there in which you what you stand case we're standing firm in the Lord.

[00:18:06] And here he's saying, hey, I'm going to remind you about the gospel and that gospel is what you received. It's what you believe. And it's not just what you believed on in the past. The gospel is what you're standing on right now today.

[00:18:21] And he says, by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preach to you and less, you believed in vain.

[00:18:32] So Paul says, I need to remind you guys how you're gonna stand today is based on what you believed in the past, but it's not like, oh, you just believed it in the past.

[00:18:42] So you're good today? No. You need to remember what you believed in the past and you need to hold fast to it in the present, because the only way you're standing today is if you're standing on the gospel.

[00:18:55] When the good news of Jesus Christ that he is the holy and anointed one of God, that he came down to die for our sins on the cross. And on the third day that he rose and won a mighty victory over his foes that we get to experience for all of eternity if that good news of Jesus becomes old news in your life. And that's bad news for your soul.

[00:19:16] I'll tell you right now.

[00:19:18] Like the day you're like, oh, is this going to be another sermon about the gospel? Because I've heard that one before.

[00:19:25] I've been there. I've done that.

[00:19:28] Like, I just want to say, hey, watch out. If you ever feel like your heart is getting familiar with the gospel and it's not feeling like good news and it's not feeling like fresh life, and you're starting to have this kind of like, yeah, I know the gospel. Thank you. Thank you for reminding me, but I'm ready to move on. Well, let me ask you a question. What higher ground are you moving on to than the gospel of Jesus?

[00:19:50] What more firm foundation are you now ready to rise up to and stand on than the fact that Jesus Christ paid for all of your sins and he gave you eternal life through his the power of his resurrection? Like where you go and after that.

[00:20:04] So we did this thing, and here at our church, we like to preach through books of the Bible. And so one thing we wanted to do was preach through a gospel when our church was just getting started. And so in years two and three and even into year four, we preached through the gospel of John. Was anybody here back then when we preached through the gospel of John? Remember that few of us maybe we went through the gospel of John.

[00:20:23] And like the whole book is written, that you would see the signs of Jesus, the miracles, that you would read the teachings of Jesus. And when you see the signs of who Jesus is, that you would believe in Jesus. And when you believe in him, then you receive eternal life. And so the whole like first 12 chapters of John, like 12 chapters of the Bible, like a whole year of Sunday mornings here at church. It was like, here's this week's miracle that Jesus did. Here's this week's amazing teaching. Here's him saying he's the living water or the bread of life or the light of the world. And what you need to do today in response to Jesus is you need to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved and receive his eternal life. And you started to hear as we went through for a whole year, twelve chapters of that message were many weeks. It felt like we need to believe in Jesus. You started to hear the murmurings and the complaining of the people at church.

[00:21:18] Are we going to hear the gospel again? Is this going to be another sermon on the gospel? Why do we have to talk about the gospel every single week? And you started to hear at church complaints that there was too much gospel being preached at church. And some of the people, they were pretty vocal in their complaints about the gospel being preached. You know what? Some of those people. They don't stand firm on the gospel anymore. They don't have to complain about what's being preached at church anymore. They don't go to church anymore. Like when you're over the gospel. What are you now going to stand on when the world comes to knock you down?

[00:22:00] What are you going to now hold fast to when the world comes to tempt you with those things that actually seem interesting to you and they want to lead you astray? How you going to stand firm on something else other than the gospel of Jesus Christ?

[00:22:15] There's nowhere else to go. And so if you think you've moved on, you need to think again here today.

[00:22:23] He had no problem reminding these people that they need to stand on the gospel. Hold fast to that word. I preached you, point number one. Let's get it down like this. You need to remember what you are standing on. Remember what you are standing on. In a few minutes, we're gonna take communion together. We're gonna eat a little piece of bread that's supposed to remind us that Jesus, the lamb of God, who he really sacrificed his body on that cross to take away our sins. We're gonna drink a little cup of juice.

[00:22:54] That is a reminder of the blood, the pure and righteous blood of Jesus that had to be shed to pay for your sin, to purchase your soul like Jesus didn't say, move on from from my death and resurrection, he said. Remember my dad proclaim my death until I calm.

[00:23:17] And so please don't think that we're moving on to something else. We need to be standing firm in the gospel.

[00:23:24] And if you're tired of hearing the gospel preached at this church, I got bad news because I'm about the preacher right now.

[00:23:29] Look at verse three. Look at what it says. It says, For I delivered to you as a first importance is the most important thing wherever going to talk about. In fact, it's not just the most important thing that people need to hear to get saved.

[00:23:42] It's still the most important thing for people who are saved. And when we're in heaven for all eternity, we're gonna be shouting out that the top of our lungs worthy is the lamb who was. So if you're already bored of the gospel now, I don't know what you're gonna do forever and ever.

[00:23:58] All right. Because that's what we're gonna be singing about.

[00:24:01] That's gonna be the only reason we're there. Even then, it will be only because of the blood and the body of Christ that we stand in that place.

[00:24:10] And so he says, hey, I'm delivering to you as a first importance. What? I also received that Christ. That's who he is. It's a name we get used to. But Christ is the Greek way to say the Hebrew word messiah, which means anointed one, that all of the promises of the prophets, all of these prophecies were God's said that he was going to send one to save his people. That's who Jesus is. He is the one from God to save us. He's the Christ, the son of the living God. And he died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. He was pierce for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace by his wounds. We are healed.

[00:24:56] And he was buried that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, that the holy one guy would not undergo corruption. He would not see decay. But on the third day, the storm was rolled away and he emerged with a mighty triumph over his foes of Satan and sin and death. They were all defeated through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

[00:25:18] That's the good news.

[00:25:21] I mean, there's nothing better than that. That's the story that God loved you so much. He traded his one and only son for your soul.

[00:25:29] I'm sorry if you're tired of God loving you. That's what the gospel is. All right.

[00:25:37] I had this privilege on Friday night, I got to go to this event where this guy named Matt Redman was recording a new C.D. of worship songs. Who's ever heard of Matt Redman before? You ever heard of this guy? If you haven't heard of him, you're singing some of his songs already in this service. He wrote that song, Heart of Worship that we sang. We're gonna sing another song that the guy wrote. Anybody know that song? Ten Thousand Reasons That We Love to Sing is probably the most popular song in the Church of Jesus all over the world in the last few years. This guy wrote that song and he doesn't write worship songs.

[00:26:08] He worships God and songs come out of it.

[00:26:13] In May. I got to go there and I got to worship with this guy and he comes out and he just comes out right away. His fist is up in the air.

[00:26:21] Like the gospel of Jesus is so fresh. It's so good. It's so real. And he just starts shouting. I know that my redeemer lives. And he's still keeping all his promises. He says because he died, we are forgiven because he is alive. We are the reason and I'm like, there is nothing better than hearing the gospel of Jesus and praising him in response. I don't want to move on from this. I want to live, die and live forever. Standing on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[00:26:53] That's what we're here to do.

[00:26:55] We're here to respond to what Jesus has done for us. And if you're getting knocked over into the same old sins and if the world's beating you down and knocking you around, maybe it's because you're over the gospel. And you need to hear Jesus say to you today, stand firm. Stop being a foolish man and build your house on the solid rock of his death and resurrection.

[00:27:19] What else? What higher ground are you moving on to in your life? Then the ground where Jesus spilled his blood to save your soul. Part of the reason we're getting tossed around is we're not reminding ourselves and holding fast to the fact that that's sin right now, that's tempting me.

[00:27:38] I can say no to that because Jesus already died for my sin. That obstacle right now in front of me that I don't think I can hurdle over. I don't think I can get over this one. I can plow through that thing because I've got the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

[00:27:53] Say you're standing firm because you're standing on the gospel. So you think how messed up this has gotten, we've got Christians thinking they don't have to do anything. And then when they try to do something, they either declare themselves to be too weak or they act like they're going to do it in their own strength when really what we believe to be Christians is what we should be standing on every single day of our lives.

[00:28:20] In fact, turn with me to first, Peter, Chapter five. Let's see what he says. We're standing on in First Peter. Chapter five, Peter writes to a bunch of Christians who have been dispersed all over the place. Remember, the church got started with revival breaking out in the streets of Jerusalem and there were thousands of people getting saved and being a part of the church. And then when the persecution came, those people had to flee for their lives. They had to leave town. They got spread out in all these different cities. And so Peter writes a letter to the Christians who have been dispersed, who are suffering, and he doesn't say, hey, we're just going through a hard patch.

[00:28:57] It's going to get easy. No, he says it's going to be hard.

[00:28:59] And when it's hard, when that when that rain comes down and that flood comes up and the world's trying to huff and puff and blow your house saying you're going to have to stand firm, that's what he says.

[00:29:12] And even when he signed off here at the end of the letter, first Peter chapter five, verse twelve, even when he's given his final greetings, he's still just like Paul. Getting back to it at the end of the letter, like, if there's one thing I want you thinking about when I'm signing off from writing you, it's you got to stand firm.

[00:29:31] Look what he says by Silvana's or some people think that's Silas, a faithful brother, as I regard him. I have written briefly to you exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in. So he doesn't mention specifically the gospel that Jesus died and rose again. What he is talking about is the grace of God. He's saying that's something we should be using to stand firm, and that's part of the solid rock we're standing on. Think about the goodness of God. That's what Grace's. It's your the undeserved favor got. You deserved judgment. Well, God didn't give you judgment. That's mercy.

[00:30:14] He put the judgment on Jesus and God gave you good things when you deserved punishment. God gave you blessings. That's grace. The goodness of God poured out in your life. Even grace that led you to salvation. Grace that saved you. Grace says with you now today. That's what you're standing firm in the true grace of God.

[00:30:37] And you hear people talk about Grace as Christians and they talk about being saved by grace, and we sing about the amazing grace of God that takes blind people like us and opens our eyes.

[00:30:48] It takes lost people and they are found all because of the grace of God. But again, if you're acting like grace is just something you got when you got saved. No, grace is how you're standing as a Christian today.

[00:31:02] Grace doesn't stop. Hey, the Psalm 23 said famously that the goodness and mercy of God will be chasing after you all the days of your life.

[00:31:13] You don't just get saved by grace. If God withheld his grace from you at any moment, you would be in so much trouble if God wasn't being good to you. He is always being good to you.

[00:31:25] So there's Grace, this goodness of God. And a lot of times people today, they just say, well, there's grace to forgive my sin. There's grace to cover my sin.

[00:31:34] And again, that means, like, Grace will make up for what I did in the past. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible says his grace. What's makes you strong today so you don't sin today? Grace is not just there to forgive you for yesterday's sin. Grace is there to give you the strength. So you say no to sin today. That's what Grace does. It's a lot more robust, a lot stronger than a lot of people talk about it. Even people at Church of God, Grace. Well, if you've got Grace, stand firm in it.

[00:32:05] Peter's saying that's what you're going to need. Now, he's he's really saying something here at the end of his letter. Go back to chapter five, verse eight. Look what Peter's saying.

[00:32:16] He's saying the threat of the enemy is very real. He says, be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour he. OK, there's a real enemy.

[00:32:30] OK. And the devil, as we think of him, Satan. He's just one of the demons who are out there, forces of evil in the heavenly places, in the spiritual rounds. And they would love to take you down and destroy your faith so you could take the name of Jesus down with you.

[00:32:47] Satan would love for your house to go splat and for a lot of people to talk about how you were supposedly a Christian. And look what happened in your life. He would love for you to fall away from the faith. And it says he's like a lion prowling around. Now, I don't know why the lions are always taken naps every time I go to the zoo. Is it the same way for you? Right.

[00:33:06] But I remember one time. There was this lion and she started to walk right there at the glass and she was going back and forth and she was looking at some of the little children that were there knocking on that glass.

[00:33:20] And she was looking for somebody to devour. And that glass did not feel thick enough when you saw the full power of that lion moving around looking at those kids. It was a very uncomfortable feeling when you saw the lion prowling around. And yet look what Peter goes right to. In verse nine, he says, resist him. Firm in your faith. How strong is the grace of God that you could resist Satan? That's how strong it is.

[00:33:48] Resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And then he says this. You need to pay attention to verse 10 here after you have suffered a little while.

[00:34:00] The God of all Grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you to him be the dominion forever and ever a man. That's what it says. OK.

[00:34:18] How much Grace does it say that God has right here in this verse? Hey, so maybe you think, well, I woke up tired. I woke up feeling weak. Let me tell you if you're tired. Does God still have energy to give to your soul?

[00:34:33] If you're weak, is it actually good when you acknowledge that you're weak? Because then the power of God can be made perfect in your weakness. See, God doesn't wake up in the morning. He doesn't feel sore from yesterday. No. God gave you all the grace that you needed yesterday. And His Grace is still operating beyond 100 percent. In no way is he been diminished by the goodness that he is ready to pour out on your life this very day by the goodness that is waiting for you every single day.

[00:35:01] You're ever going to have the goodness that you are going to endlessly enjoy perfectly for all of eternity. And we will never get to the end of the grace of God.

[00:35:11] He's the God of all Grace.

[00:35:13] And he when you get knocked down, he's ready to restore you. God himself will pick you up and he will restore you when you feel unsure and insecure.

[00:35:22] God himself will confirm you when you feel like the waves and the winds are really not can be hard. God himself will strengthen you. It says when you only when you feel like, hey, how do I keep standing when the world's trying to knock me down?

[00:35:37] God is the one who establishes you on the firm foundation of the Gospel of Jesus as he continues to give you more grace.

[00:35:48] You are never going to run out of the grace of God in your life. It is always going to be waiting for you there to stand not and you, by God's grace, you can say no to your temptations. And you can overcome this world's tribulations. If Satan were to come to you today and try to devour you. There would be enough grace for you to stand firm. Can I get a man from anybody on it? We got to remember what we're standing on. You know, a lot of times I think when when a brother or sister when they start talking about their weakness. So as human beings, we can all relate to being weak. You everybody can can agree on yeah, I know what it's like to feel tempted. I know what it's like to give in to sin. I know what it's like to have the world come and knock me down. But sometimes I think we really need to be careful, brothers and sisters, because when we're hyping up our weakness, what I think we're doing sometimes is we're bringing down the power of God.

[00:36:44] And we're acting like the gospel isn't really a firm foundation and we're acting like there's not really enough grace for me to keep obeying. For me to keep overcoming.

[00:36:53] And so sometimes be careful if you're hyping up how weak you are. You might be bringing down how powerful God really can be in your life. He's telling you to stand firm and God's not asking you to do something that you can't do because you can stand firm in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I want to strongly encourage you not just to hear what is being said today.

[00:37:15] But to go and do what is being set in that this week, today you need to stand firm in the law. Now go back to Philippians Chapter four, because there's another thing that he rolls right into it versus two and three. And I want you to really feel what this must have been like for the Philippines. All right. As I want you to imagine that you're you PAFA Didas shows up in Phillip High and he's got a letter from Paul and the Philippians. They know that they just got together their money and they sent that gift to Paul in prison and they're really concerned about how he's doing. And here comes the message back from Paul. And so I'm sure as soon as a paradise came into town with this letter for the church and Phillip High, I'm sure they all. I don't know what day of the week it was, but I bet they all started text to one another. We got to do church right now. You know what I mean? Like, we got to calm and we got to do church right now. And here they are. They're running through the city. They're gathering together. We got the letter from Paul.

[00:38:10] Let's see what he's saying. And then they begin to read through this glorious letter. And they're just probably I would imagine they're overwhelmed by how much Paul loves it, by how much joy he has in them.

[00:38:23] That's gotta stir up their hearts. That's got to be doing something to their affections. And then when he's calling them out to stand firm and he's saying they got to do nothing from selfish ambition, I would imagine they're starting to feel some conviction.

[00:38:36] And when they hear about how the gospels ringing out, even though Paul's in prison, the gospel is not chained up and more people are hearing the gospel and people are preaching the gospel. I bet they're clapping. I bet they're cheering.

[00:38:48] And then they come to this part, chapter four, verse two, and they're hearing about his love and he wants them to stand firm and they know he wants them to stand firm because the thought of them falling away would break his heart because he loves them so much. And then all of a sudden in verse, too, he says, I entreat you Odia. And I entreats Sin Ticky, to agree in the Lord.

[00:39:08] Like, I would imagine that would bump you out of the letter right there. Like, imagine if you're sitting next to you, Odia, at that moment when that is rare. Can you imagine if we're all here, it's Sunday morning, 11 o'clock service, and I'm like, Hey. And for my next point. Hey, so and so and so and so. Because, you know, they're not sitting together. They're not sitting next to each other at this point. Right. Hey.

[00:39:30] So and so and so it's so why can't you guys agree in the Lord, I want to really encourage you and you to work things out. Like, imagine you're sitting next to you, Odia, when Paul mentions her by name from prison.

[00:39:46] Like, you would start being like, did somebody turn the ear off? You know what, to me? It would be like sweaty palms time. It would be like all of a sudden I'm very aware that, like, I'm sweaty and like it's hot in here and like, I'm just gonna slide away from you audio a little bit. Am I see. Like a huge spotlight just gets dropped on these two ladies that apparently people in the church knew these ladies couldn't get along.

[00:40:08] There must have been some talk about these ladies not getting along and having some kind of catfight there in the church that it gets all the way to Paul in prison and he thinks it's such a big deal. He asked to drop it in a letter in front of everybody.

[00:40:23] I mean that.

[00:40:25] That would be a rough day to be a Uria since Tickie right there. And when he says, here is I entreat or I encourage. It's the Greek word Paraka Layo to call alongside. Usually we it encourage like he's calling people out by name. Hey, you, Oria.

[00:40:39] And send Tickie. I encourage you to agree in the Lord. Now, again, just like this is the second time he's telling the Philippians to stand firm. This is now again, he's getting back to this idea of a green. He's already said it before in the letter. He's bringing it up again. And he's calling out to people specifically go back to chapter two, verse two, and let's see where he already said this same idea. He said, Complete my joy by being of the same mind. That's the same Greek words there.

[00:41:10] That is later translated. Agree in the Greek. They're the same. And I think same minds a really good way to interpret it like, hey, you Horia incentive key.

[00:41:20] You need to be on the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord of one mind. There's a unity. When they're standing firm, they're standing firm in one's spirits.

[00:41:32] Sometimes we have this idea like, yeah, I'm building my house on the rock. Jesus I got my rock and I'm building on it. I got newsflash for everybody here. We're all building on the same rock.

[00:41:43] All right. Which means we're all neighbors. OK? So if you're like, hey, you're getting too close to me, you need to go build somewhere else. There's no other rock to build on.

[00:41:53] OK, so we're building all here together. We're supposed to have one mind the same mind. So many people come to church and at church, they want to speak their own mind and tell everybody else, the church what they should think to agree with their personal opinions and preferences. That's not how church is supposed to work. We're supposed to come together and all get on the same page. And what's the mindset? We're all supposed to have look what it says in verse five. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours. And who does it say there? Christ, Jesus. The same mind we're all going for is not everybody to agree with you. We're supposed to agree in the Lord.

[00:42:30] We're supposed to be on the same mind with Jesus Christ agreeing on the things of first importance like the gospel of Jesus and the grace of God in our lives. That's supposed to be a foundation we can all unite on.

[00:42:43] And so he's already said this and now he's bringing it up with these two women. And then look at verse three. Now, look, we've got to think this through. OK, there's a problem between you, Odia and SINTA key. They're not the same mind in the Lord. And he says, yes, I ask you also and then it says, true companion, help these women. Like he's calling for somebody to come and mediate the division between you, Odia, Ensign, Tickie, and then notice what he says here.

[00:43:12] These women who have labored side-by-side with me in the Gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the Book of Life. So he mentions three different ways there that you won't Ensign Tikki, who we know right now, have some kind of beef, some kind of division.

[00:43:31] Well, he says these ladies, they are what they are, the laborers, the side-by-side laborers. Earlier when it said strike. Side by side, same word here. Labor side by side. Soon Aflalo, they are competing together for the gospel. These ladies are evangelists. These ladies are living out the gospel. They're telling other people the gospel. It says their fellow workers soon ere gone. They're doing the work of the Lord. And they're doing it with each other. That's the idea here. We're athlete athletes. We're competing for Christ and we're doing it with each other. Together, there's a work of Christ that we're supposed to do and we're doing it with one another together. So he affirms that these ladies are saved people. He goes so far as to say their names are in the book of life.

[00:44:18] The reason these ladies aren't can't get along isn't because they're not Christians. So imagine if you're your Oria and you're like getting called out how embarrassed you must be.

[00:44:29] But then all of a sudden he drops that your name is in the book of life and how exciting that must be to hear.

[00:44:36] That must be overwhelming. When people have problems like this. Okay. This is a common thing.

[00:44:46] We're not talking about some hypothetical situation, we're not talking about some ancient situation that just existed between two women like there. We're talking about our church right now.

[00:44:56] It is regular for people at this church to say that they're thinking about leaving this church, not because they have a problem with the church as a whole, but they have a problem with another person in the church.

[00:45:07] And people do leave this church because they have problems with other people, and sometimes when people leave because they have a problem with somebody, the person who sticks around says, I'm glad they left.

[00:45:18] So we're not talking about something hypothetical, this is all too real. There could be people not sitting close to each other here in this service. Now, let me tell you, if you start if you're a part of one of these situations or you start hearing about one of these situations in and so and clearly Paul heard about it all the way in prison.

[00:45:35] OK. And go back to Verstraete, notice how he says, I ask you. He's like speaking to somebody now. True companion. OK. And there's a footnote there that you can see if the word translated companion there, it could mean Yok fellow, like the idea of two oxen that are yoked together, going the same way, plowing the same way. But it also could be a person's name. Scissored. Guess it could be serious. So I mean, maybe we weren't supposed to translate it into companion or yoke fellow. Maybe he's just saying hey you Horia and sent to ki can't get along. So Cizre guess maybe you should go and help these ladies out. Now when we've already got interesting names like you Odia incentive key on the table says guest. Seems like a real contender to me. Right. So maybe he's saying scissors you need to go media. So I don't know what your position is right now. Maybe you are you Odia sent to keep maybe, you know, right now that you are divided from somebody else in this church. Maybe your scissors. Maybe you're somebody who knows people who are divided. And maybe you need to be maybe one of them will come to you as a mediator. Maybe you'll need to be a mediator. Let me just warn you right now, if you go talk to you, Oria, who is you already are going to say started this whole thing. Same, Ticky. And if you go talk to send Ticky and you just hear syntaxes side of the story, what is sent to Keegan to tell you almost every single time you get into one of these situations centric, he's going to tell you that you don't even know you, Horia, until you talk to center. And once you talk to said, Ticky, she's going to tell you the true story of you, Horia. That's what she's going to say. They let me just tell you, when you're only hearing one side of the story, don't get played. OK? Don't believe one side of the story. I guarantee you. Let's give both people in the same room talking where we can do real fact checks in real time. And both stories usually end up getting edited a little bit. OK. So if you're believe in one side of the story, just be very aware that you don't know the whole story.

[00:47:38] All right.

[00:47:40] And here's the thing, we got to think about this, not from our perspective, like I understand these kind of interactions that we have with other people and the things that they do to us and how things go down and how water goes under that bridge. I understand it gets complicated. I understand there's a lot going on and it's not that simple. But I just need you to see it from God's perspective for a second. You're in church this morning. That God the father loved you, Odia, so much that he sent his one and only son to die for the sins to pay for everything that you, Odia, has ever said or done or thought.

[00:48:17] He took all of that wrath that you should have been you odious, and he poured it out on his own son, Jesus Christ, and that the father in heaven, he loves Sin Tickie so much that he sent his one and only son to die on that cross, to pay for sinta key sin so that she would never be judged but would be his adopted daughter in heaven forever. Let me ask you, dads and moms.

[00:48:43] Is it OK when your kids don't get along? Are you just going to let him live at the house and they can just go in each other's rooms and avoid each other in the halls and eat at different times? You've got to see this from the fathers perspective, there is no way our father in heaven is okay with people coming to worship him thinking I'll go to this service so I don't see so-and-so at that service. All sit over here so I don't have to talk to so-and-so. You're coming to worship the father and he knows there's a problem with you and one of his other kids. Like, that's not going to go down OK.

[00:49:16] Turn with me to Colossians. Chapter three, just one page over to the right. Colossians Chapter three, Verse twelve gives us a definition of what it means to have a new life in Jesus. Here's a definition of what it means to be a Christian.

[00:49:29] We put on this new life like we put on new clothes and it says Put on then as God's chosen ones. God chose to adopt you to be one of his kids. He sent his one and only son to pay for you so he could adopt you into his family as God's chosen ones. Holy. You've been set apart from send to a new life. Your beloved father could not love you more than he does right now. Here's what we're supposed to put on. Compassionate hearts. Kindness, humility, meekness and patience.

[00:50:01] Bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another.

[00:50:06] Forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

[00:50:13] And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called. And what does it say there? How many bodies do we have?

[00:50:28] One body of Christ.

[00:50:32] If you meet somebody here on planet Earth and you fall in love with them and you want to be with them for the rest of your life and you want to get married to this person and you get engaged to them and you say, I do, and you're going to be with the one you love forever. You want to know what happens when you get married? There's a there's a bonus prize that you win. They're your in-laws, everybody. That's who you get.

[00:50:54] You get the in-laws, you know, the in-laws that I'm talking about. Some of you married people. Right.

[00:51:00] Hey, when you meet Jesus and you see that he came down here on a seek and seek and save mission for your soul, and he gave his all on that cross to pay for you, and he's calling you to carry your cross and follow him. And you say, I want to love Jesus. I want to live for Jesus. I want him to save me so I can go to heaven to be with him. You know what you get? You get all of your in Christ.

[00:51:22] Everybody in here. They are. This is the family of God, that's who you get.

[00:51:28] We have this idea that, hey, I'm not really a people person, I, I more kind of do my own thing. I know you want us to go to these fellowship groups and you want us to get open and honest and confess sin to one another and pray for one another.

[00:51:40] And then, like, it's hard enough for me to think about me sharing my problems with other people, but then they're gonna share their problems with me and that's going to be a burden. And I'm not going to know what to do and how am I going to care for everybody else's problems.

[00:51:53] That's not really me. I'm quiet. I'm more of an introvert.

[00:51:57] I'd just rather keep to myself. Yeah. That was you. And then you became new in Christ.

[00:52:04] And if you're new in Christ, a new in Christ means you enter into not just a relationship with Jesus. You enter into a relationship with all of the people of Jesus. And it doesn't matter how many times they sin against you. You got to keep forgiving them.

[00:52:20] Does matter how wrong they are. You've got to be patient with him. You've got to have compassion for him. You've got to bear with him. You've got to put on love.

[00:52:28] And you've got to say, no, I'm not going to think of them as some other part of the body. We're all going to be one body. And just like Jesus came to reconcile me to the father and make peace with the father. I'm going to do everything as possible. That depends on me to be at peace with the other person.

[00:52:47] That's what he's saying here. This is a part of the new life. It's not an optional part. It's not an extra credit part. No. When he talks here in Kalash in sorry about your old life, you need to put off your old sins.

[00:52:57] But when you put on your new life, it comes with all of these other relationships. And you've got to put on a way of interacting with other people. That's what it means to be one of the people of Jesus. You're in the body of Christ and there's only one body. We're all building our house. We're all standing firm on the same rock. We're all going to be neighbors forever. And you can't say, well, I'll go find a different rock. There's no other rock to find. You can't hope they'll just go off the rock. What are you wishing upon that person?

[00:53:29] So I think it's so helpful that when Paul goes so far to call these two ladies out in the presence of the church three times, he affirms that these are really saved ladies, because one of the first things that people do when they're having beef with somebody in the church is they say, well, they're probably not even safe. So I don't even need to treat him like a brother. Like that's a great way to respond to a problem. Just look down on that other person in total judgment. I'm sure that's what God would want you to do. Just throw their soul under the bus so you can feel good about not reconciling yourself. That's not what God would want from you. See, it's very rare, there are occasions where people commit crimes against other people. Where people just do something that is wrong and that person needs to be protected. There are definitely those times. But most of the time, it's not like one person is walking around in a dazzling white robe of righteousness while the other person is just completely wretched in their filthy rags. Usually we're both pretty dirty by the end of this brouhaha. You, Odia and SINTA Key.

[00:54:33] And the question is, who's going to own up to their side of the story? That's the question. Who's going to admit that they did something wrong and even if you're thinking the other person started it? Yeah. Did you keep it going? Did you say something in a way that you shouldn't have said it? Did you avoid them when you should've gone to them and resolved it like you're telling me? Hey, I'm feeling this. There is somebody I have a problem with. Maybe you're feeling that way this morning and you're gonna tell me right now there's really nothing you did to contribute to that problem. There's nothing you could go and own up to that person and saying you're sorry for. Is it just pointing fingers, pointing at the other person and saying how you're right and they're wrong? Or can you examine yourself and maybe find something that you could own up to?

[00:55:19] That's how problems get solved. That's how conflicts get resolved is when somebody says, I'm sorry, who's gonna be the first to say?

[00:55:28] Who's going to own up to what they've done? Go. Go with me to Matthew, Chapter five. We got to we weren't. We started in the Sermon on the Mount. Let's let's finish in the Sermon on the Mount. I want to. I want you to hear what Jesus says that he thinks about situations like you, Odia and SINTA, key situations where people that are brothers and sisters in Christ have a problem with one another. Because you know what the world's saying about this.

[00:55:53] The world's saying that if somebody is a negative influence, if they're not a positive reinforcer of what's going on in your life, but they're bringing their negativity into your life, you should avoid that person. You should drop that person. You should have nothing to do with them. That's what the world says. We can't be like that.

[00:56:10] We need to be better than that here in the Church of Jesus Christ. They're going to know we are Christians by our what by our love and our love means. We're gonna have to come together and resolve our conflicts, our differences.

[00:56:25] That's why it's so important. That's why we're mentioning people by name in the letter of scripture. Here's what Jesus says about it as he's interpreting the law, which had been misinterpreted by the Jews, he says in Matthew 521, you have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.

[00:56:46] Maybe people were feeling good. I haven't murdered anybody. I haven't killed anybody.

[00:56:50] I haven't harmed anybody. But I say to you. Here's what Jesus says, that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.

[00:56:59] Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council. And whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire.

[00:57:09] Jesus says you don't have the murderer. You just got to get angry with them in your heart. You just got to insult them with your lips. You just got to call them a name. That's all it takes to be guilty of that sin.

[00:57:23] And then he says this, really think this through. Here's Jesus speaking to you.

[00:57:28] What kind of man what kind of woman are you going to be, wise or foolish? Are you going to do what Jesus says right here?

[00:57:34] So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go first, be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.

[00:57:53] See that we have this wrong thought that I can be right with God when I'm wrong with one of his kids. And what Jesus is saying is, don't come to worship God if you know you've got somebody has something against you, you've done something wrong to somebody else. Leave your gift at the altar and go. Go right now. Do it today. Go and be reconciled to them. Go and do whatever you can to make peace. Go and try to bring the two parties who are now apart from each other, try to bring them back together.

[00:58:23] And if you need assistance, if you need a mediator, if you need somebody who can help, because if you just talk to the person, it's not going to go well. Well, hey, I'll be your sister again. Let's sit down at the table of reconciliation, because you know what there is in Jesus Christ? There's repentance of sin. There's forgiveness in his name. And people who are enemies can become the best of friends. That's what Jesus can do. OK. So I'm asking you, does somebody have something against you? Because you need to go and reconcile with them and you need to do it right now. We're going to celebrate communion right now.

[00:58:56] We're gonna remember the ground that we're standing on, the gospel ground of the body and the blood of Jesus Christ, that we can stand firm. We're gonna come before God's presence.

[00:59:06] We found out the reason there's an altar in the tabernacle or an altar in the temple is because there's an altar in heaven before the presence of God.

[00:59:16] And so when you come to the altar, Jesus isn't just talking about going to the temple. He's saying, if you're coming to guy, you're coming to the one who sits on the throne, the one who is holy. And you're coming boldly to find your grace, to keep standing firm.

[00:59:29] If you're coming to worship God and in your heart, you're convicted because you're not right with one of God's people. Leave your gift at the altar.

[00:59:36] Go right now and reconcile with that. Don't take this communion to remember Jesus Christ when you need to go reconcile with one of the people of Jesus. So if that's you, if you're you Odia know, you're sent Tickie. I would strongly encourage you to go and reconcile. That's point number to reconcile with other Christians. And if you get in a situation where you've got a problem with another Christian, you've got to go in and seek to make peace. The scripture is clear in Romans twelve as far as it depends on you be at peace, do everything you possibly can to find peace with that person.

[01:00:17] And if you can't find peace with them one on one, see if they're a mediator, will sit down and help come to a table of reconciliation where I love it when people start getting honest and open and we start talking about what's really going on and we lay it all out there on the table and we start owning up to it, we start repenting of it.

[01:00:34] We're ready to forgive one another. We could shake hands. We can look each other in the eye. We can give each other a hug. And we can stand together on the rock of Jesus Christ.

[01:00:45] That's what we're able to do. We're a group of people that's able to do that. Unlike the rest of the world, when they've got family problems or somebody they don't like. They just ride them out of the will. And they never talk to them again. We're not called to that.

[01:00:59] We're called to reconcile with one another as Jesus came to reconcile us to the father, please go today and reconcile. And now the ushers are going to come forward in the worship team is going to come and we're going to go back to the cross of Jesus and we're going to remember the gospel. We're going to remember that Jesus died and rose again. And that's the ground we're standing firm on. And if you if you are being tempted, if you if the world's trying to knock your house down, I hope that this time of remembering Jesus remembering his grace given to you. I hope this time of remembering our lord will strengthen you, will establish you to stand firm.

[01:01:43] And so let me pray for us. And then you'll get the bread, you'll get the cup. Hold it together. The worship team is going to lead us to the cross. You can pray to the Lord yourself, go before his throne of grace.

[01:01:54] Go before his altar. And then we'll take these elements together. Let me pray for us right now. Father in heaven, we come before you. And we confess.

[01:02:06] At some days, we act like there's nothing we really have to do as Christians, and then some days we act like we're going to do it in our own strength and we're just able to do it by ourselves. And God, I pray that you would give us clarity from your word today that the only way we're going to stand firm is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[01:02:25] On the gospel of his grace. So, Father, I pray that you would remind us of our foundation that we would be building our house on the rock and God, thank you for teaching us that it's not just hearing these words, but we need to go and do that. So, Father, I pray that this will be a time where you'll take us back. To the cross of Jesus Christ, that even now we could see his hands nailed into the tree. His feet nailed into that piece of wood. We could see that crown of thorns and the blood that's flowing down from his skull, all over his face, all over his body, going all the way down to the ground there.

[01:03:08] We can see the lamb of God coming to take away the sins of the world. We could see the blood there at the ground, the blood that purchased our souls, that purified us from sin, that cleansed us. And we can know this is where I'm standing in this swamp, building my life right here where Jesus died. Father, please lead us back to the cross. We pray.

RELATED

[bibblio style="bib--split bib--row-4 bib--font-arial bib--size-18 bib--wide bib--image-top bib__module" query_string_params="e30=" recommendation_type="related"]